Sand Glass

by A M Russell

  ‘As for the little nurse? She is still out there. I have an idea that the dragon has her,’ Elland gestured widely with both hands, ‘But on finding she has no voice, he may dispose of the female down one of these water chimneys.’

  I saw Aiden’s expression, and then he looked away. Our little group gathered round him as he sat down unstrung.

  ‘May I speak?’ said Jared. We all turned to him as that softly authoritative voice carried an icy tone that set a shiver in everyone’s gut. I saw the girl Sarah look up from her cup in an expression that was clawing for recognition of the long forgotten past.

  Elland nodded. And Jared stepped between us all and moved around the group.

  ‘We have to defeat this dragon. It may not be the once and for all. But we must try. Elland has offered his help. I will take it. But all his men and all Aiden's people must go home straight away. We will give the time drugs to Elland’s Men, and we have some medicine for Aiden’s people also. Joe? Will you see to that?’

  Joe stood up immediately and began the task.

  ‘We will take two teams,’ he was loud and firm, ‘Those who are willing only of the ones that remain, of which I count ten of us. One team will set charges on every corridor and exit. The delay timed for midnight tonight; that is corresponding to Base Time. Adam will give you the synchronisation. The other team is to find Ellen and Hanson and then leave.’ He looked round for Oliver, ‘that means we have another.... twelve hours?’

  Oliver nodded.

  ‘This is going to be interesting.’ said Adam, as he came near to me and showed me his watch. I reset mine, then looked for further instructions. Kay was helping to give the shots to the group. She seemed in better shape than the rest of them.

  The group of us who were going to do the deed gathered round. Joe joined us a moment later.

  Marcia was looking annoyed. The others were chattering.

  ‘Okay! Listen now!’ Oliver said firmly. We all fell silent. Jared glanced at me. I rolled my eyes at him. What had he told Marcia?

  ‘We are going to divide into two teams,’ said Oliver, ‘Jared, Davey, and Janey will be with me. Marcia will join Joe, Adam and Pete.’

  Curly Pete stuck his hand up, ‘What about Hanson?’

  ‘As far as we know,’ said Oliver, ‘Elland has found the probable location of Hanson. Marcia briefed Elland’s men. They can help get the transmitter set up with George at the other end. We have the portable transmitter that will get proximity on Hanson if he’s still wearing the tag.’

  ‘What about Alexander?’ asked Jared.

  ‘No news as yet; we made the meet, but as you know he didn’t show.’ Oliver frowned.

  ‘Bastard!’ Jared seethed ‘Why didn’t he take the bait? This feels very wrong indeed.’

  ‘You didn’t expect him to come when summoned, did you?’ Aiden stepped forward, ‘Your plan is simple now. But I have to remind you that Alexander is clever and subtle. He can’t stop us leaving but he can change the outcome of what we find when we get back.’ Aiden paused, ‘we are all so sick of this going on and on. But the only way to end it is to send Alexander back. He is the head, and without it the body will wither.’

  ‘So tell them Oliver,’ said Jared, ‘what you have in mind for each team.’

  ‘We have brought explosives. And we aim to cut off his retreat. The soldiers are easy to eliminate. Any direct hit will disconnect them from this version. They have been given a vat of drugs, and cannot dodge to any other time frame.’ Oliver took out a list. ‘We have discovered six overlapping frames of time in this mountain. George has been very busy cross-referencing all the data that Davey passed on to him. Marcia confirmed a lot of this from the central information she has err…. memorised. Jules has taken the precaution of changing the codes to the transmitting frequency for the modulator. So they cannot be reset at Base again.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ I asked. They all looked at me.

  ‘It means,’ said Janey, ‘That once we go back, this time it is over. No more repeats. No more alternate from Base. No new expeditions.’

  ‘My last trip then.’ I said.

  ‘You sound disappointed.’ She looked up at me.

  ‘No. just tired. I think I need a holiday.’

  Elland loomed near so I pressed my lips together. Aiden sat down on a camping chair and rubbed his face in the palm if both hands. He looked tired and stressed.

  ‘You’re going with the others.’ Jared stated flatly.

  ‘I have to stay.’ protested Aiden.

  ‘No.’ Jared was harsh and blunt, ‘Joe. Give him a shot and make them ready to leave.’

  ‘Yeah. Sure.’ Joe sounded a little unhappy with Jared’s abrupt order, but he took Aiden over to where the others were all gathered.

  ‘So time to wade in?’ Elland was looking pleased with himself.

  ‘As long as you are happy with everything.’ Jared was beginning to get exasperated with us all. Too many people causing difficulty I guessed.

  ‘Best get on.’ Elland said, ‘time and tide really do wait for no one round here. I’ll take you to the top of the mountain. There is a clear place for the transition to be created.’

  We arrived at a place that was open to the sky. And endless plain of chilly rock. And far off to our left another rocky edge. The top of one of those enormous chimneys that filled with the water that poured from another time and place.

  ‘It is not safe to stay for long.’ Elland seemed unhurried but serious faced, that is for one who took mostly an amused superiority at anything that might befall anyone in the group. He pointed to the right. The pale light here was indistinct and there was a light but insistent breeze that never stopped blowing.

  ‘This place gives me the creeps.’ said Curly.

  Personally I shared the sentiment, but thought it a good idea not to advertise my misgivings in front of Elland. He stepped forward and simply stared. And there, like a corridor that opened up was a view of something else. At first indistinct. It quickly resolved itself into the shapes of rolling hillocks and unpleasant vegetation. Kay came and stood next to him.

  ‘Closer than that.’ she said.

  And there clear as anything, were the gates of the Base. And I could even make out the masts for the transmitter on top of the first low building.

  ‘It’s time.’ Oliver announced.

  The group didn’t seemed to want to leave and stood hugging and saying goodbye to the ones in our little team. Elland’s soldiers seemed a bit more practical, but since they had been charged with making sure the others got back safely they stood and waited.

  At last Elland stood forward and ordered them to move. Oliver just shouted at them all ‘Our necks will be swinging on Rimmington’s rope by the time you lot get back!!’

  That got them all moving. Aiden took one pained look back at Jared then turned away. I don’t know what it was between those two. They had a history that went back longer than the rest of us I supposed. At last it was done. Elland turned to us.

  ‘Are you ready for this?’

  ‘What happens?’ Oliver spoke.

  ‘Just get to the tunnel.’

  We did so. And as the doorway in Space-Time closed it started to snow. Elland came towards us laughing, ‘Well! I’ve not seen a winter in ten years.’

  ‘Minus twenty isn’t winter. It’s a bloody deep freeze.’ Oliver hurried us along the tunnel back down into the bowels of the mountain.

  We stopped to split into two teams. Joe and Curly divided up our kit. Elland helped them. Oliver looked at Marcia, then turned to Jared, ‘You are asking for trouble.’

  ‘Yeah….sure.’ Jared looked at him in a casual way, just waiting for the equipment to be sorted out. He took out the hunting knife and ran his thumb along the edge. Satisfied, he put it back in the sheath. Janey was checking her pack and handed some things to Curly.

  ‘We can separate at the tunnel just before the bridge.’ said Elland, ‘Let’s go.’

  Marcia came to Jared
and bluntly said: ‘I’m going with you.’

  ‘No you’re not.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘Just help Adam and the lads please.’ He sounded harsh and cold, ‘This is no time to get difficult.’

  She looked furious. Elland regarded her with the curious gaze of an big game explorer observing the tigress getting ready to fight. She turned away suddenly and picked up her pack. ‘As you say.’ She said. She was super mad. I could see that. Janey didn’t say a thing. She was coming with us. Suddenly science was the thing that was the defeating token in this game.

  We all started to pick our way carefully down debris strewn corridors of wildly contorted rock. Marcia was subdued, and Janey seemed to be concentrating hard.

  I felt reassured by the thought that Jules was on the case back at base with the dreadful machine that had played a part in making all this happen. I felt the strap around my thigh. The small silvery knife. Did I dare tell Janey. No, I decided. She had too much in her mind already. She walked with me. We were towards the back of the group, with Oliver joining us. He was whispering something to Jared. I couldn’t lip read; but something in both their expressions even in the light of our lamps gave me an odd felling. Jared caught my eye. I fell back into step with him.

  ‘Quietly,’ he said.

  We dropped back a few more paces with Oliver.

  ‘We are not safe.’ said Jared, ‘the spike is still here.’

  I digested this. ‘Who?’

  ‘Could be one of two people. And they may not be aware they are.’

  ‘Very Russian Sleeper. Please illuminate me.’ I whispered.

  ‘Let’s put it this way,’ said Oliver, ‘they’ll get back the painful way.’

  ‘He means he’ll take care of it.’ said Jared.

  ‘So who?’ and when neither answered, ‘what is the problem?’

  ‘It’s Curly…. Or you.’ said Oliver.

  I didn’t say anything. partly due to the fact that whatever approach I took the question was an unanswerable one. I felt certain they were right. But just because it had to be one of us. Just because some kind of suggestion had been planted long ago in a person’s mind ready for the key trigger, and even though I knew it was possible…. I believed that it wasn’t me. But then I doubted. We carried on. Not much further now. Then the group would do the human equivalent of cell division. And take the angry half with the others in the form of Marcia. I thought that blowing things up might help her get over Jared’s bullying decision.

  Something flickered in my peripheral vision. So much for being confident. I jumped slightly and we all stopped. There was nothing there. They spoke in whispers. A slight breeze could be felt. Was it from the endless wind that blew above us on the mountain? I felt that crawling sensation of dislocation that had afflicted us last time we were here. Jared and Elland seemed undecided which route to take towards the bridge. They stood and debated in hushed voices as we stood waiting. I thought someone was watching me. I really needed to get a grip.

  In the small cave, I had seen Jared’s mind turned inside out by one thing that happened. He seemed alright now. But unusually testy. I needed to remember what we had already done. But it seemed kind of faded and remote. I didn’t want to confuse loyalty with innocence. I wasn’t innocent. I had seen and done things in the course of this expedition that had stained me. I would not see anything the same again.

  We silently parted ways at the next large boulder. The others slipped away before I had chance to say anything to Marcia. I thought better of it then. No room for sentiment now. And the clock was ticking.

  We stopped within an hour and sat down to check our position with Elland’s map of the mountain.

  I really didn’t see what we were going to do to find the others. ‘What about Hanson?’ I said at last.

  ‘Hanson is a smart man. And an idiot.’ said Jared.

  ‘He’s has been fooled in the conventional sense of the word, into backing the wrong course of action.’ said Oliver, ‘But he isn’t really the one they could use for a covert betrayal.’

  ‘Oh? Why not.’

  ‘He’s a good expedition leader. And if you are going to use someone, you don’t sacrifice someone who is that important.’ Oliver was blunt.

  I felt angry. Then irrationally, I hoped it was me, so that I could see the whole thing go to hell in a bucket, and really know what all the fuss was about after all.

  Jared, who was perhaps a little more aware of the way my mind was working, said: ‘I know it’s harsh. Oliver is just putting it from their point of view. None of us think that. You know I don’t. I know you too well.’

  ‘Thanks Jared.’ Was all I managed to say.

  At last we found what we were looking for the entrance to the lair of the enemy. Things were different, grimmer, darker and more ominous. Gone were the white and sterile corridors. Now they were wreaked and grey and grimed with the dirt of years.

  ‘Interesting.’ said Janey, and ran a finger along some old piping. She turned to Jared, ‘We’ve got about six hours now. Not long.’

  ‘So we can open a door back if we need to?’ Oliver since the group had parted and he was staring ahead as if he saw something moving. His eyes darted one way and then the other.

  ‘Watch out!’ he pulled me and Jared rough to the side as something whizzed past out heads.

  Janey looked at me and turned to Elland who was crouched against the grimy wall.

  ‘Is there another way into the high security section?’

  ‘Yes. But you won’t like it.’

  ‘Show us.’ she said in a hard tone of disgust. I think it was aimed at the corridor defences but I wasn’t absolutely certain.

  I really wasn’t liking this at all. A narrow corridor and then nothing. It opened out into a channel where a rope bridge had once been tied. We went forward and I backed off away from the edge.

  ‘Whoa! Steady on there.’ Elland griped my elbow and pulled me forward.

  ‘Let go!’ I shook him off.

  ‘Best not.’ said Oliver mildly. Elland shrugged and turned away to examine the damaged end of the bridge; he leaned out and peered down.

  ‘It’s not far. There’s wide space to land.’

  ‘Yeah.’ said Janey, ‘It will be fine.’

  ‘What?’ I said.

  Jared pulled me aside, ‘We have to run from back there, and jump across.’ He pointed to a spot not far back.

  ‘No way!’

  ‘It’s not far. See how short it is across.’

  ‘See how far it is down!’ I heard my voice wobble with rising terror.

  ‘Err….. Jared!’ Oliver had that tone that you never refuse to attend to if you value your life.

  ‘Zarks!’ Janey’s eyes went round with surprize, ‘this is not a Scooby Doo moment I know…. What the….?’

  Jared was dragging us both backwards. ‘You are going to bloody jump right now. Janey! Take him!’

  I didn’t have time to find the terror, and quantify it properly. Shots rang out and clattered near out feet, and we ran. I felt my feet leave the floor, and then then the other side came up fast to hit me. I began to tumble; and instinctively rotated in the moment of impact. With a bone jarring thud we landed. Janey pulled me out of the way as Oliver flew over our heads and rolled. Jared followed. He grabbed me and snapped me out of the trace:

  ‘Damn it Milnes! You never bottle on me again!’ I picked myself up and we started to run.

  ‘Where’s Elland?’ I said.

  I heard Oliver swear in response, then we skidded round a sharp left hand bend in the small tunnel. We ran for another fifty yards or so and then stopped.

  ‘The stupid idiot!’ Jared bend over and winced.

  ‘Who?’ I said, but he ignored me and straightened up his hand against his stomach.

  ‘We will find the experimental area just up ahead.’ said Oliver, ‘There isn’t long now.’ Janey pointed out. We walked at a slower pace as we cautiously neared our destination.

&n
bsp; ‘I thought we had until the fifth of November?’ I said.

  ‘We did,’ said Oliver, ‘but since everything is now going backwards. We have less and less time.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Janey! Your call.’ Oliver said, ‘I’d like to hear it from an expert.’

  ‘Oh!’ she wrinkled her nose, ‘You want relative time and dimensional existence For Idiots right?’

  ‘Yes Please.’ I said, ‘Please make it as close to explaining what it is even if you know that it isn’t really what it’s like, so that I’ve got a picture in my mind that will make me feel less shit scared of what Oliver just said!’

  ‘Okay,’ said Janey, ‘Oliver gets it so I don’t see why you can’t.’

  ‘Joe and the team are setting the delay so it goes off no later than midnight.’ Oliver’s voice was heavy and authoritative.

  ‘Will he really knowingly do that if anyone is still not out?’ I asked, as we edged further through the low tunnel.

  ‘We’ve got until midnight.’ said Oliver. ‘Then everything will unravel whether we like it or not.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ I said feeling a little queasy.

  ‘For Idiots.’ said Janey with a smile, ‘now everything is going backwards. Everything will accelerate towards the end point. Time will go faster on the outside than on the inside. The experiment ends tonight.’

  ‘And then what?’ I said fearfully.

  ‘We’ll be out of here.’ said Jared.

  ‘And if we’re not?’

  ‘We will be.’ Jared suddenly grinned at me, ‘Come on Davey. Have a little faith. Things can’t be so bad.’

  His sudden change of mood unnerved me nearly as much as the news that we were going to be turned into little fragments of atoms by tonight if we hadn’t left.

  ‘Is it a nuke?’ I asked.

  ‘Not really a good idea.’ Jared walked ahead a few paces.

  ‘So we just collapse the whole thing to prevent any more action by this Rimmington and then get out of here?’